Organizational Positioning

Up or Forward

The following represents a concept for contrasting the purpose
and function of several groups within an organization The organizational
components considered are the Future Design Team, the Leadership
Team, Individuals, Functional Teams, and Cross-Functional Teams.
This contrast is between the current organization structure and
the perceived structure of the future. And these labels were simply
chosen for convenience. What the components are called is not
nearly as relevant as what they do.

The future will happen. The question is whether the organization
plans for and endeavors to create the future, or ends up being
created by the future. If all portions of the organization spend
100% of their time focusing on the day to day operations, when
will there ever be time to focus on next week, next month, next
year, and the years beyond? Continuing to focus on the present
will ensure the organization will be the victim of the future.
To create the future time and effort must be spent deciding and
planning how the future is desired to be.

Most current organization structures are hierarchical in nature
and this produces a perspective of the organization having a "top."
Yet the real nature and purpose of this "top" of the
organization is to look more at the future than at the present,
while constantly keeping the current in perspective. With this
perspective, we can lay the organization on its side so the "top"
is no longer a "top," but rather the "front"
or the "forward" portion of the organization.

Those members of the organization that are responsible for
designing the future of the organization look and think further
and further in front of the organization. The intention is one
of providing leadership for the portions of the organization that
will actually create the future that has been designed. The difficulty
associated with attempting to do this is that the further and
further one gets into the future the more intangible it becomes,
and the more difficult it is for those involved to feel like they
are really accomplishing something. As such there is a rather
natural tendency for individuals to gravitate toward a shorter
term perspective and activities as it produces more tangible results.

Yet, if one gets out in front of this form what one sees is not
the point of a pyramid lying its side. What is viewed is more
of an amoebic structure as follows:

Within this diagram the organization is the integration of
all the components, the Functional and Cross Functional Teams,
the Leadership Team, and the Future Design Team. The Leadership
Team encompasses the Future Design Team.

The "Stars" in this diagram represent Functional and
Cross Functional teams which are considered to be the keys to
the future success of the organization.

And, regarding membership in the various components, membership
should be dependent on ones capacity to contribute to addressing
the issues faced by the team, not their traditionally perceived
position in the hierarchy, for there is no hierarchy!